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3 .6.1 Will the ones from developing countries be the first ones to extinguish? Gabriela Gonzales
Will the ones from developing countries* be the first ones to extinguish? If we do extinguish at all
Sooner than you think!
Mankind changed the environmental conditions on Earth from the moment when agriculture and animal domestication was invented and put into practice. We learned to manipulate plants and animals growing cycles and with that, a Geological era was initiated (although some experts argue that this era started along with the First Industrial Revolution). Originally and officially named as ‘Holocene epoch’, it is currently being shifted to ‘Antropocene epoch’ - as proposed since 1960’s by various authors - this term emphasizes the deep impact of humans on climate change. How deep is our impact on Earth?. Very deep, so much that “the chemistry of the planet is changing” (Rifkin, 2011). In fact, if scientists’ prediction of rise of Earth temperature, sea water level, etc. does come true, it could initiate “a mass extinction of plant and animal life in less than one hundred years” (Rifkin, 2011). This probability of extinction is already terrifying but what could come after it is even more severe: “the Earth has experienced five waves of biological extinction in the last 450 million years. Each time there was a wipeout, it took about ten million years to recover the biodiversity that was lost” (Rifkin, 2011). “… climate change from fossil fuel-based industrial activity looms on the horizon. Our scientists warn that we face a potentially cataclysm change in the temperature and chemistry of the planet, which threatens to destabilize ecosystems around the world.” (Rifkin, 2011) As Rifkin explains, humans have the ability to move in order to find food supplies, but where would they go if plants and animals are no longer available?. “It is worth remembering that the creatures at the top of the food chain are usually hit the hardest” (AsapCIENCE, 2015). Conservation International explains this principle simply and clearly: “If nature isn’t kept healthy, humans won’t survive. Simple as that”. Therefore when plants and animals existence is threated, humans are too, meaning that we all could be facing the beginning of the sixth mass extinction. Cover - Walden Street Detroit, Andrew Moore Figure 1 - ‘Years of living dangerously’ Premiere documentary. Screen capture. 2
“For the first time, humankind… has perceived that it is a specie that can die, disappear from the planet such as thousands of other species have done in the past…” (Toledo, 2009). All of this information - which comes from serious studies conducted by prestigious research centres, observatories, universities, etc. - is available to most of us and has been on the news for a long time now. Still, how many people - politicians and society - are truly concerned and committed to find another way of doing things in order to ensure our specie survival?. Conservation International reached to famous actors and renowned journalists to increase the awareness of this subject through a series of documentaries that intend to involve as many people as possible on this indubitably vital issue. It has also become a plot for various contemporary movies and TV shows - Interstellar, MadMax, Wall E, The last man on Earth - they explore the many possibilities of a near future worldwide crisis and mass extinction. To some people these constantly changing living conditions constitute the present moment as “the most exciting time ever” (Diamandis, 2015).
TIR is the New Evangelism, don’t you know?
“Our industrial civilization is at a crossroads. Oil and the other fossil fuel energies that make up the industrial way of life are sunsetting, and the technologies made from and propelled by these energies are antiquated” (Rifkin, 2011). There is good news though! There is a new economic development model that is being put into practice and is sustainable with our planet: abbreviated as TIR, it stands for ‘Third Industrial Revolution’.
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Created by renowned economist and social theorist Jeremy Rifkin (2011) who declares that a new industrial revolution is formed only if two conditions are achieved: new means of communication and energy. The First Industrial Revolution was based in steam-powered printing machinery which at the same time served as massive means of communication; and the Second Industrial Revolution was founded on electric communication and the internal combustion engine “designed for turning oil into power and mobility” (Rifkin, 2011). The foundations for the Third Industrial Revolution are “Internet technology and renewable energies” affirms Rifkin (2011). Every past Revolution affected enormously the way we live. The author affirms that the Third Industrial Revolution is no exception, it “is the last of the great Industrial Revolutions and will lay the foundational infrastructure for an emerging collaborative age”. Rifkin (2011) developed this vision and from it, created an economic model that involves the entire society into creating, participating and getting benefits from it (job opportunities, collecting and distributing energy, etc.). Democratization, lateral power, collaborative work, and other concepts, are essentials for this theory and economic model. TIIR model is structured in 5 pillars, where “each [one] can only function in relationship to the others”: 1. Transition towards renewable energies 2. Conversion of buildings in all continents into micro-power plants, so that they collect and use the energy captured in situ 3. Deployment of energy stocking systems everywhere (buildings and network), so that the energy captured is not wasted and can be used when there is not enough energy available to obtain 4. Creation of a smart grid per continent that shares power, as Internet shares information, so that the energy captured can be distributed in situ 5. Shift from fossil fuel transportation vehicles to electric ones, so that they can participate in the smart sharing grid “The democratization of energy will bring with it a fundamental reordering of human relationships, impacting the very way we conduct business, govern society, educate our children, and engage in civic life” says Rifkin (2011). Now, is this Third Industrial Revolution that important in this disastrous ‘end of the civilization’ context?. Yes, and the reason is that TIR “offers the hope that we can arrive at a sustainable post-carbon era by mid-century and avert catastrophic climate change. We have the science, the technology, and the game plan to make it happen… it is a question of whether we will recognize Figure 2 - ‘Years of living dangerously’ Premiere documentary. In these captures, American actor Harrison Ford is introduced to the projections of temperature increase in the US to 2100.
the economic possibilities that lie ahead and muster the will to get there in time” (Rifkin, 2011). Off course, Rifkin is not the only one out there asking for a transformation of our economical model, energy sources, consuming and producing practices. Scientist, theorists, politicians, among others, are preaching this new Evangelism all over the world - but mostly in the developed countries. “We are dumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at a rate the earth hasn’t see since the great climate catastrophes of the past. The ones that led to mass extinctions. We just can’t seem to break our addiction to the kinds of fuel that will bring back the climate last seen by the dinosaurs, a climate that will drown our coastal cities and wreak havoc on the environment and our ability to feed ourselves. All the while, the glorious sun pours immaculate, free energy down upon us, more than we will ever need. Why can’t we summon the ingenuity and courage of the generations that came before us? The dinosaurs never saw an asteroid coming. What’s is our excuse?” (DeGrasse, 2014)
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Sanity vs insanity
Toledo (2009) declares that “… the future of humanity will be determined, more frequently not by the good and bad guys, or the rich and the poor… liberals and conservators, but by the conscious and unconscious, [meaning] the ones that fight for survival and the ones that with their attitudes, explicitly or inexplicitly, have conducted all of us into collective suicide.” The author also explores the idea of humans becoming a “natural pathology”, since we are “the specie that has reproduced the fastest in the last decades… also the only living being that literally devours its own house, and the only animal specie that assassinates its own members at an unprecedentedly scale”. As mentioned before, Toledo (2009) summarizes humans in two ‘categories’ or positions. The first one is referred to the conscious ones, individuals aware of the possible sixth mass extinction taking place in the next 100 years approximately. To the author, people in this category have achieved a “’conscience of specie’, a ‘planetarium ethic’, ‘a global
intelligence’”. The second category, is for the numb, unable to remember, fooled ones, “when they look at them selves in the mirror, they become blind”, they are a “suicidal specie”. Toledo (2009) inquiries about the gap between both kinds of citizens, how different they are “like if they were two different species”: “Homo Demens” vs. “Homo Sapiens”. Finally, the author arrives to a conclusion, that a new politic named “bio politic”, and a new culture of living need to emerge urgently, one that commits every human being to a “pact of life”, a planetarium agreement that will ensure the survival of our specie. But this humanitarian pact refers to humans as if there were no borders. Since international borders are a pretty much defined concept in the present moment, how should such this specie pact be constructed?
EU is on board, US does not have its ticket yet… What about everyone else?
Even though cities – global, ‘glocal’ and generic – have become the centre of attention as the new unit of development in a worldwide scale, we will review international borders (countries and politic-economic union of states), as the territorial unit to measure its immersion into the TIR. “… in May 2007, the European Parliament issued a formal written declaration endorsing the Third Industrial Revolution as the long-term economic vision and road map for the European Union” (Rifkin, 2011). Since 2006 Jeremy Rifkin has been working closely to the European Parliament, creating an economic development model – mentioned previously – based in the Third Industrial Revolution vision. The US has not adhered to this economic model. Rifkin describes the US scenario as Toledo refers to the insane, unconscious individuals that refuse to believe not only that the Second Industrial Revolution is over, but also that it is threating our own existence in this planet. Although the author affirms that his vision “is quickly spreading to countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas”, no official commitment has been confirmed in American developing countries. When will governors, entrepreneurs and society in general from these countries get on board?
Contradictions in countries of low development in the Americas
Some countries in development in South America – and in other continents too - have contradictory politics when it comes to natural protecting areas and the exploitation of fossil fuel or mining activities, as witnessed in Bolivia and Colombia recently. At the same time, some of these countries are creating new Cabinets related to the Digital Era we live in. For instance, Colombia has an ICT Cabinet since 2009, Peru and Ecuador are on the way of creating 8
Figure 3 - Image about Bolivian and Colombian exploitation of fossil fuel and minerals Figure 4 - News headlines about Bolivian and Colombian exploitation of fossil fuel and minerals Figure 5 - News headlines about Bolivian and Colombian exploitation of fossil fuel and minerals
their own. Argentina has an ICT Unit that makes part of the Educational Cabinet, something similar happens in Brazil. How contradictorily is this? These laws created recently to enable the exploitation of fossil fuel and minerals in natural protected areas in Bolivia and Colombia, constitute examples of not only political contradiction, but also government insanity and unconsciousness (Toledo, 2009). Off course, there are more examples available in order to emphasize this ‘instantly’ economic model that is being carried out in several developing countries. “The Madidi National Park in north-west Bolivia is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet… Madidi is just one of 22 “protected areas” in Bolivia - all of which are now more threatened than ever by government policy opening up huge new areas to oil and gas. Over 20 million hectares across the country have been identified, contracts signed…” (The Guardian, June 5th, 2015). Corruption, ignorance, numbness are common qualities among governments and society, in developing countries. Could we argue that if the government is careless about its population survival, citizens are to blame for voting for them as their leaders?. May citizens are not to blame fully. In Bolivia, Evo Morales was elected President for the third consecutive time last year, even though it was an unconstitutional act and the voting was fraudulent. Bolivians are obliged to vote, and lately we ask ourselves, which one of the candidates is the ‘least worst’ to vote for. This situation is common in other American developing countries. Still, if there are no ‘good’ candidates to vote for, what options do citizens have?
In citizens we trust!
So, what about the citizens of these developing territories?. As discussed previously, there are two kinds of individuals, the ones concerned and the ones fooled about the state of the climate change, and our survival. It might seem discouraging when our politicians are also ignoring this dramatic situation, but we might be missing one fact: citizens are always majority when compared to their governors. Toledo (2009) praises of a new political vision at the same time that he confides on citizens organized in social movements and participating actively in the very important decisions that they might face sooner than they think. Social movements instead of a new political philosophy could be the way to spread awareness the fastest and achieve a new economical – productive model such as the Third Industrial Revolution. But what about ignorance? We can only demand what we know we are missing, is that not correct?. In this sense, ignorance limits the future and survival of citizens - especially - from low development countries, where some people – in rural areas, for example - are limited by a very basic educational system. 10
Returning to the Bolivia as an example, how long would it take President Evo Morales to acknowledge that we are facing the sixth mass extinction?. Assuming that this happens in the next four years of his current presidential stage, how long would it take to this Evangelism to arrive to the most remote rural areas? And, what about the natural parks that would be exploited in the present presidential period?. Reformulating the earlier stated human pact for survival, how is it possible to consider such an agreement, if everyone is not aware of this cataclysmic situation? Are we likely to achieve a human pact for survival, or will this just be achieved among developed countries?. Or perhaps, citizens from countries in development could be more fitted to overcome humans’ extinction, even if they never got engaged into the TIR? Finally, if things go wrong with humans and we all initiate a non-returnable path towards extinction, will international borders disappear in the end? Would we all be equals ironically at our last breath?.
Figure 6 - ‘History of Earth in 24 hours’.
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